The origins of the Kesavananda Bharati case can be traced back to the land reforms that were introduced in the Indian state of Kerala in the 1950s and 1960s. These reforms were aimed at redistributing land from large landowners to the landless and the poor. In 1963, the Kerala government passed the Kerala Land Reforms Act, which placed a limit on the amount of land that a person could hold. The Act provided for the acquisition of excess land from landowners and its distribution to the landless and the poor.

Sri Kesavananda Bharati was the head or pontiff of the Edneer Mutt, a Hindu religious institution in Kerala, India. In 1970, the Government of Kerala imposed restrictions on the ownership of land held by religious institutions. The Edneer Mutt, headed by Sri Kesavananda Bharati, challenged the constitutionality of the Act in the Kerala High Court. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the state government.

The Parliament of India in the meantime passed the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, which sought to curtail the powers of the judiciary and limit the scope of judicial review. The 25th and 29th Amendments were also passed, which sought to limit the fundamental rights of citizens and give Parliament the power to amend any part of the Constitution.

Sri Kesavananda Bharati filed a petition challenging the validity of these amendments, arguing that they violated the basic structure of the Constitution. This led to the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment, which upheld the basic structure doctrine and placed limits on the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution.

The case became one of the most important case in Indian constitutional history, and Sri Kesavananda Bharati is remembered as a key figure in the fight to uphold the principles of democracy and the rule of law in India.

The Kesavananda Bharati judgment, delivered on 24 April 1973, is a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India. The case was filed by Sri Kesavananda Bharati, the head of a Hindu religious mutt in Kerala, challenging the constitutional validity of the 24th, 25th and 29th Amendments to the Indian Constitution, which sought to curtail the powers of the judiciary and the fundamental rights of citizens.

The Kesavananda Bharati case was heard by a bench of 13 judges of the Supreme Court of India, making it one of the largest benches in Indian legal history. The bench comprised of Chief Justice S. M. Sikri, Justice J.M.Shelat, Justice K.S. Hegde, Justice A.N.Grover, Justices A.N. Ray, Justice P. Jaganmohan Reddy, Justice D.G. Palekar, Justice H.R. Khanna, Justice K.K. Mathew, Justice M.H. Beg, Justice S.N. Dwivedi, Justice A.K. Mukherjee and Justice Y.V. Chandrachud.

The bench was set up to hear the case as it involved important constitutional questions regarding the powers of the Parliament to amend the Constitution. The bench took six months to hear the arguments and deliver the final judgment.

The Supreme Court, in a historic 7:6 majority decision, propounded the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution, which holds that certain fundamental features of the Constitution, such as democracy, secularism, federalism, and the rule of law, cannot be amended by parliament. The court also held that the power of judicial review is an integral part of the basic structure of the Constitution, and cannot be taken away by Parliament through constitutional amendments.

The significance of the Kesavananda Bharati case lies in the fact that it established the doctrine of basic structure of the Indian Constitution. The basic structure doctrine holds that certain fundamental features of the Constitution, such as the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary, cannot be amended or abrogated by the Parliament through a constitutional amendment.

This doctrine has served as a check on the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution and has ensured that the Constitution remains a living document that is responsive to changing times while preserving its fundamental values and principles. The Kesavananda Bharati case has thus had far-reaching consequences for the constitutional development of India, making it one of the most significant cases in Indian constitutional law.